Should Congress pass an omnibus appropriations bill or a series of short-term continuing resolutions?

An omnibus appropriations bill, or “omni,” in Hill-speak, is an amalgamation of the 12 regular spending bills, rolled up into one.

Congress passes an omni when it can’t get its work done in regular order.

It is far preferable to do each individual spending bill on its own. That gives lawmakers time to thoroughly vet and debate the issues in each piece of legislation, whether it be funding for farm programs, defense systems, veterans housing or other issues.

With Harry Reid as the Senate majority leader, however, that has been the road less taken. Read More »

Just over one-fifth of the Senate voted against the legislation passed Thursday that authorized President Barack Obama to train and equip Syrian rebels in the fight against Islamic State militants, also known as ISIL or ISIS. The 22 lawmakers to oppose the bill split roughly evenly between the parties: 12 Republicans, nine Democrats and one Independent.

Because the training program was part of a larger spending bill keeping the government funded until Dec. 11, lawmakers pointed to different pieces of the legislation to explain their dissents. Still, some broad themes emerged among the opponents: Read More »

House Republicans will include additional funding in their short-term spending bill to help address the outbreak of Ebola in Africa, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) told reporters Monday.

Mr. Rogers said he expected the House to vote this week on the stopgap measure to keep the government running beyond the end of the month. The legislation could be released as soon as Tuesday and will not include any new controversial policy measures, he said. Read More »

Congress returns to the Capitol this week after a five-week recess. While lawmakers were gone, much in the world has changed, most urgently an escalation of violence by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, including the beheadings of two Americans. Lawmakers will be deciding how aggressively they want to assert their institutional prerogative in the response by the U.S. and its allies.

Also while lawmakers were away, local law enforcement’s response to protests after a police officer’s shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., has led to questions about the militarization of police. And more companies, including Burger King, have shown an interest in merging with overseas firms that would allow them to relocate their headquarters abroad to lower their tax bills, a tactic known as an inversion.

Some things haven’t changed: The fiscal year still ends Sept. 30, meaning lawmakers have to address annual spending bills before then, and the charter for the Export-Import bank expires at the same time.

And with two months before the November elections, some of what lawmakers will do in the coming month will fall into the category of messaging – action on legislation that has no chance of enactment but is designed to play to core voters who are key to the midterms.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) took his drive to cripple President Barack Obama’s health-care law to the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, vowing to talk against the law into the night, until he is “no longer able to stand.”

It was a talk-a-thon that was supposed to look like a “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” style filibuster, reflecting the conservative’s fierce opposition to the president’s signature legislative accomplishment. Read More »

Senate Democrats are discussing a shorter-term measure to keep the government funded after the end of this month, hoping to move quickly to a more permanent spending program and move past the contentious fights that have tied up both chambers of Congress for weeks.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said that the discussions centered on a spending bill that would stretch through Nov. 15, instead of through mid-December, the current target date. He said that the rationale was to avoid adopting last year’s budget “over and over,” and to shift to a new budget. Federal agencies have limited flexibility over where to allocate budget dollars, and temporary spending measures tend to lock agencies in to spending plans that may no longer suit their needs.

“If we do this till Dec. 15, Merry Christmas,” Mr. Durbin told reporters. “We’re going to be sitting around here and it will be once again Christmas Eve” and Congress will still be wrangling over the budget… Read More »

The Senate plunged into debate over legislation to fund the government while cutting of money for the new health care law, with both sides accusing the other of threatening to bring about a government shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.Nev.) opened debate by denouncing the bill passed by the House Friday that embodies conservatives’ campaign to “defund Obamacare,” as the health law is known.

“Inside the House Republican bubble, the crowd cheered a plan to deny health insurance to tens of millions of Americans or else shut down the government,’’ Mr. Reid said at the outset of a debate that is expected to stretch into next weekend before any significant votes are taken. ‘President Obama has been clear. I have been clear. Any bill that defunds Obamacare is dead on arrival in the Senate.’’ Read More »

But Rep. Scott Rigell (R., Va.), a car dealer now in his second term, decided he couldn’t go along. Mr. Rigell was the only Republican to vote “no” on a plan supported by 228 GOP lawmakers. Read More »

LIBERTY, Mo. – Facing a fiscal impasse with House Republicans, President Barack Obama used a speech to implore lawmakers to “just do your job” — and raise the debt ceiling and continue funding government.

Mr. Obama railed at length against Republicans in Congress who have threatened a partial government shutdown if the Affordable Care Act — known as Obamacare — is not defunded and who have appeared reluctant to raise the nation’s debt ceiling if the White House doesn’t agree to Republicans’ conditions.

“They’re not focused on you. They’re focused on politics,” Mr. Obama said. “They’re focused on trying to mess with me.” Read More »

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Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.